Santelmo Vasconcelos holds a PhD in Plant Biology, a master’s degree in Genetics, and a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences, all from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). He completed internships at the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew). He has been an adjunct researcher at ITV DS since 2015, with experience in genetics, molecular biology, metagenomics, phylogenetic systematics, and genomic evolution, focusing on vascular plants and cave-dwelling invertebrates from the Amazon.

Maurício Watanabe holds a PhD and a master’s degree in Science (Botany) from the University of São Paulo (USP), and a teaching degree (Licenciatura) in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) (2005). He completed a sandwich doctorate at the Field Museum of Natural History. As a researcher at ITV DS, Watanabe focuses on taxonomy, systematics, molecular phylogeny, and morphometry, especially in the Eriocaulaceae family.

Gisele Nunes holds a PhD in Agricultural Microbiology from the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Esalq/USP), with a sandwich doctorate at the University of California, Riverside. She holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Methodist University of Piracicaba, and completed a postdoctoral research at Fiocruz and ITV DS. As a bioinformatics researcher at ITV DS, her work focuses on the genomics of plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, and microorganisms from the Amazon and mining areas.

Renato Oliveira holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), a master’s degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), and a degree in Computer Science from the same university. As an assistant researcher at ITV DS, he works in bioinformatics applied to genomics, metagenomics, genome assembly and annotation, microbial diversity analysis, and metabarcoding. He is a national award winner with international experience in network and systems engineering.